Osiel Cárdenas Guillén

Leader of the Gulf Cartel who in 1997 recruited GAFE special forces deserters, beginning with Arturo Guzmán Decena (Z-1), to form Los Zetas as his personal bodyguard and enforcement unit. This decision to bring military-trained operatives into the drug trade transformed the entire Mexican cartel landscape.

Arrested in 2003 and extradited to the United States in 2007, where he was sentenced to 25 years. His removal created a power vacuum that eventually led to the Gulf Cartel-Zetas split in 2010.